The BOJ Monetary Policy Meeting was held on 29-30 October, and the policy rate was left unchanged. Meanwhile, its assessment of price developments moved a step forward, with the BOJ indicating that underlying inflation was at a level broadly consistent with the 2% target.
At the BOJ Monetary Policy Meeting held on 29-30 October, the policy rate was left unchanged. The BOJ's current assessment of interest-rate trends is understood to be consistent with a policy of maintaining the current accommodative stance intended to ensure financial-market stability. The statement released after the meeting indicated that while no change was made to interest-rate policy itself, the official assessment of the outlook for future price developments may have advanced.
The BOJ said that underlying inflation was "at a level broadly consistent with the 2% price stability target." This indicates that it views the sustained upward trajectory of prices as remaining in line with the target and may be taken as information supporting the continuation of monetary accommodation. Although the factors considered in policy decisions are expected to be updated depending on future price developments, no specific guidance on the timing of a rate hike was provided at this point.